First Yoga Day set to be a resounding success
If the large-scale preparations are anything to go by, the first International Yoga Day is all set to be a resounding success. The Government is going out of its way to ensure that people across the country and all over the world participate in the celebrations, scheduled for June 21. Importantly, the controversies that had dogged the initiative in recent weeks have also been amicably resolved. Most religious minority groups, concerned about the Hindu origins of yoga, have since formed a consensus that yoga is not about faith but well-being — and it is expected that they will join in wholeheartedly and participate in yoga events on Sunday and, hopefully, in the long term thereafter.
After all, the effectiveness of yoga doesn't change with the practitioner's religion. Even the low-level politicking that had been happening over Yoga Day seems to have ebbed away. At least one Chief Minister from an opposition party, who had previously said that his State Government would not organise any official yoga event on June 21, has since changed his mind. His Government is now organising a large yoga workshop where he will be the chief s.
Incidentally, his State has been home to several well-know yoga institutions for decades. It does not require a stretch of imagination to see how, in trying to undercut the Union Government's initiative, the State would have first hurt its own revenue opportunities.
What is particularly striking about Yoga Day is that, unlike most other Government events and celebrations (and there are a dime a dozen), this programme has pro-actively sought public involvement at the grassroots level. Indeed, the scale of the event is mind-boggling.
The flagship event will be along the Rajpath in New Delhi, where more than 37,000 people are expected to turn up on Sunday morning. That apart, yoga sessions are also being organised across the country and all over the world. In India, not only are the Government agencies doing their bit but the private sector — be it sports clubs in the mohallas or large corporates — has also joined in enthusiastically.
Around the world, Indian missions in all 192 UN member states (except Yemen, where the Indian Embassy has been shut down due to the ongoing conflict situation) are celebrating Yoga Day while most of the foreign missions in New Delhi are also organising their own yoga events. The boost to India’s soft power here is unmatched.
This level of public involvement is rare, and marks a welcome departure from the usually staid Government functions, wherein Ministers participate in token ceremonies and regurgitate vacuous speeches that few care to listen. In most cases, the public isn’t even aware that an occasion was marked. Perhaps, the only ‘state events' that can be compared to what the Yoga Day is expected to be, are the Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations — and even these, some argue not entirely without merit, have become tired and ritualised.
There is little incentive for the people to join in; those who do something meaningful, do so of their own volition. In this context, it is heartening that Yoga Day has the potential to rejuvenate the nation and bring the people in harmony with their self and society.